Sara's first Halloween Party
by keangal
Summary: Sara lost a bet and has to uphold her end of the bargain...attend a Halloween party in a sexy costume. She has to endure the evening and all that comes along with it...albeit with a little help from a coworker.


"I hate Halloween." Sara mumbled to herself, futilely tugging the hem of the little black dress down. She knew it was in vain. The little glittery dress fell half way down her thigh and tug as she might, the little borders of black lace were descending no further.

Groaning aloud she stopped at the huge glass windows at the entrance to the building and took one last look at herself.

The little dress sparkled in the moonlight and surrounding parking lot lights, the sleeves puffy and billowing, the sexy plunging neckline and the bright orange cat along the oh so short skirt, covertly licking it's paw. The big shiny black hat atop her head would have looked silly if not for the little lining of orange lace strategically placed tying it in with the little black number she wore.

The black stockings and three-inch heels she wore completed the outfit and Sara peered hard at her face trying to pick up on some flaw in the makeup that would give away her identity. She could find none. Archie was good. The green paint on her face, mottled with brown and the crooked wart-protruding nose hid any trace of Sara Sidle…and then again none of her colleagues would ever picture her turning up in this risqué a costume.

Entering the building she heard Michael Jackson's Thriller playing in the distance and rolled her eyes. Pausing once again she contemplated the repercussions of her not going inside and could actually hear Catherine shrieking in her head.

She had lost a bet…a rather expensive one and was now paying for it. Taking a deep breath she moved forward, slowly hearing the music increase until she came to a little desk at the entrance to the main hall. There sat Joni, the receptionist from the office, fully dressed as a playboy bunny and she leaned back in her chair taking in the full view of Sara's outfit.

"Loving the witch outfit girl, sexy yet scary. Best one yet, even against Catwoman." She laughed out loud.

"Come on, name please," she coaxed. "You'll definitely take home that prize tonight for best getup." Joni's pen hovered above the paper.

"Sara," Sara stuttered, showing her ID. "And don't you dare put it on that list Joni or there'll be hell to pay." She added moving away from her quickly.

The Mayor had gone all out. A well bargained for treat after all three departments had worked together to catch one of their most elusive killers to date. The hall was ghoulishly decorated yet tastefully done and there seemed to be enough food and beverages to last the night…a rarity for one of their parties.

She scanned the room before her, checking for familiar faces…to avoid, saw Greg on the dance floor as expected, the Batman outfit couldn't hide that quirky nature. Oddly he was dancing quite sanely with Mia. Nick stood not too far away in a cowboy outfit and she knew Catwoman conversing with him could be none other than Catherine.

Looking across the floor at the tables in the darkened corners she made her way over to the one farthest away from the familiar crowd wondering how long she could avoid them. The bet had stipulated how long she had to attend, three hours. It didn't mean she had to stay with them and she was in no hurry to get home either.

This was her first Halloween party ever, she was curious to see what all the 'whoohaa' was about and in fact she did enjoy being dressed up. She also vaguely remembered that her apartment had been sprayed and this was her final day of staying away. She had pulled doubles the past two shifts avoiding the issue of finding somewhere to stay, taking naps in the offices not in use in her off time and secretly was happy she had lost the bet.

This being the last required day to be away from her place she had thrown caution to the wind and gone all out on her costume, even enrolling the help of Archie.

Sara had been sitting at the table for only a few minutes when a deep voice overhead interrupted her thoughts on how to approach the gang.

"Mind if I sit?" he asked, looking at her a slow smile breaking on his face when she refused to answer. The green lantern looked down at her, his stance, voice and deep green eyes a dead giveaway.

"Yes, I do mind," she answered brusquely looking back over at the group. If Warrick sat beside her it wouldn't be much longer before he would be calling the whole gang over.

"You know the longer you sit over here...in the dark…alone, the sooner they are gonna figure out it's you. No matter how good a job Archie did." He added.

She knew he was right. All the other CSIs were gathered around the centre of the room and the few at tables along the perimeter were in pairs obviously seeking solitude.

"I have no idea what you are talking about." She said pointedly hoping against hope that he just might buy it, correct himself that it was not who he thought it was and move on.

"Suit yourself Sara," Warrick threw over his shoulder turning to walk away. He sure wasn't staying where he wasn't welcome.

"Wait," she said suddenly grabbing hold of his hand. "I'm sorry Rick I just…" she stopped failing to find words to describe her discomfort. She let go of his hand sighing.

"Hey why are you so mopey anyway?" Warrick asked sitting in the chair across from her and so faced the centre floor. "And why are you hiding over here?"

"Long story," she answered looking down at her hands.

"I'm in no hurry." He said. "If Batboy and Catwoman are able to be dancing the night away the world can do without the Green Lantern."

"I lost a bet," she said.

"Always the competitive Sara." He chided. "And I thought I was bad." He continued but stopped when she narrowed here eyes to glare at him.

"Don't get me started on you," she gritted between her teeth.

"Ok, girl calm down. You lost a bet so what do you have to do. It must be what is making you hide yourself away over here…which means it's gotta be good. Come on spill it"

"I have to wear a costume." She began and sighed when he looked over at her warily. "A sexy costume." She finished.

"OK so you had a problem with the costume," he said looking across at her. "Although the neckline isn't too bad, it's not what I would call-" he stopped in mid sentence when Sara pushed her chair back and stood before him.

"Dear God where did you find that?" he stuttered when he had finished looking her up and down…twice.

"Web site," she answered smirking at him, sitting back down.

"So what's the problem?" You can't find a sexier outfit than that Sar," he said, wishing he had a drink. Suddenly his throat was very dry.

"I have to stay for three hours, I can't just show up and leave. How the hell am I gonna survive three hours of Nick's ribbing and Greg's…Oh dear God," she groaned her head falling unto her hands on the table.

He looked at her, the side of his mouth lifting in a smirk and then it disappeared just as quickly when he looked up and across the room at his teammates. They were a great bunch…almost like family, and just like family they teased mercilessly. So he knew she would be in for a night of torture.

"Suppose I hang with you for the night," he offered softly. You act like my date for the night and in three hours time you let them know it's you and leave."

He watched as she slowly lifted her head and looked at him. "You would do that for me?" she asked just as softly.

"Yeah," he shrugged his shoulder indifferently as if it was no big deal.

"Come on, the sooner we get over there the sooner you get to leave.," he stood holding his hand out to her.

She placed her much smaller hand in his large one and stood beside him. "Wait," she said suddenly after they had taken a few steps. "What if they figure out it's me, right away? What do we do then?"

"They won't," he said confidently continuing to walk with her, his hand falling to the small of her back resting against her already heated skin.

"Wait," she stopped again. "What do you mean they won't know it's me? You knew right away."

"I just knew," he answered unable to explain to her that he had been at the party for over half an hour lurking in the dark like herself. He had returned from the men's room to see the lone figure sitting at the table and without a second guess knew it was her. How could he explain to her that he could sense it was her without freaking her the hell out.

"You are my date. We have been going out for a week and I thought of taking you tonight. K," He started moving off again.

"Hold up. What is my name?" Sara asked, her instincts kicking in.

"Hmm what do you want it to be?" he looked thoughtful.

"I don't know," Sara looked perplexed. "How about Lizzy?" she tried.

"Hell no," Warrick exclaimed. "No date of mine is gonna be a Lizzy. How bout Apple? I like apples" he grinned.

"I'm sure you do," she glared at him, biting back a snide remark about men and their infatuation with women with food names. No fruits"

"Rose?" she offered.

"Like my grandaunt Rose…no way. How about Sandy?"

"Like SpongeBob's Sandy? Nope."

"Come on woman we'll be here the whole night fighting over a fake name. Hey how about Nadia?" he smiled slowly remembering his mother's middle name.

"I like that," she said quietly. "Where did you get that one from suddenly?"

"My mom's middle name," he answered looking at her thinking the name suited her…a smaller version of her. A little girl with dark brown curls and jade green eyes." Warrick jumped when Sara shook his arm trying to get his attention and did a mental shake trying to rid his mind of the seemingly crazy thoughts and images it was producing.

"Let's go Nadia," he extended his arm to her.


End file.
